27.03.14 - Mason White works with Nunavut carvers to produce stone models of arctic buildings for the 2014 Venice Biennale

CBC.ca featured an article on Inuit stone carvings of well-known Nunavut buildings, which will be displayed as part of the Canadian exhibit at this year’s Venice Biennale in Architecture.

Daniels faculty Associate Professor Mason White and his firm Lateral Office — which has has won awards for its work in the arctic — are organizing the exhibit, titled Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15. It is the first time that Canada’s north will be featured at the Architecture Biennale.

 

Reports the CBC:

The carvings include familiar landmarks such as Iqaluit's Nakasuk School, the Hall Beach DEW line site, the Igloolik Research Station and the old blubber station in Pangnirtung.

"It's raising the profile of the arts sector overall and Inuit art internationally," says Rowena House, executive director of the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association. "But it also helps develop these guys' profiles in working with different types of architecture and being able to reproduce a building instead of only working on animals or different spiritual objects."

Fifteen small buildings made of stone came out of the workshop held in Arviat, and another one held in Pangnirtung earlier this year.

Visit the CBC website for the full article.